Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Love in Romans

While I was teaching at a Bible college in Indonesia, I
had the incredible blessing of teaching a class on Romans.This gave me the opportunity to study the
book of Romans in depth.One of the ways
I studied Romans was to study key words used throughout the book. This led to
an insight about the use of the word love
in Romans.

I noticed a very consistent pattern. In the first eleven
chapters of Romans, when the word the word love
is used it is always talking about God loving people.There is only one exception (in some English
translations there are 2 exceptions). With no exceptions, in the last five
chapters the word love always refers
to people loving other people.

Then I realized that the whole book of Romans is summarized
by 1 John 4:11:

NIV
1 John 4:11 Dear friends, since
God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

This certainly is not the only way to summarize Romans,
but I’m convinced that it is one of the best ways.In fact, it is an excellent summary of what
God wants for our lives.First, we need
to learn and believe that God loves us.The main way He expresses His love is by saving us and calling us to
Himself. As we understand and receive His love, we are changed. His love
changes us from the inside out.And then
we start to reflect His great love to everyone around us.

Going Deeper

You might be thinking, “Hey, I thought Romans was a book
with deep theology about how God’s salvation of people works, followed by
practical advice for Christians.”It
is!But all of this is related to God loving
us and then us loving others.

Let’s think about how the theme of love relates to other
major themes in Romans:

God’s Wrath is an
Expression of His Love

Beginning in the first chapter of Romans we find one of
the strongest and clearest statements of God’s wrath in the Bible:

NIVRomans 1:18 The wrath of God is
being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of
people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

You might wonder what connection there could be between
God’s wrath and God’s love.But isn’t it
right for God to be angry at anything that hurts the people whom He loves? Shouldn’t God hate everything thing that,
without His intervention, would utterly ruin His loving plans for the world?
Isn’t God right to express His wrath against all which would separate Him from the
objects of His love?God’s wrath is
indeed a good and holy expression of His love.

God’s Salvation is
a demonstration of His Love

It is true that Romans includes a beautiful and detailed
explanation of why salvation in necessary and how it works.This costly salvation demonstrates to us what
God’s love is like:

NIV Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love
for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God’s
Law is a Reflection of His Love

The last five chapters of Romans could be thought of in
terms of “Now that you’re saved by God’s love, this is how you should act”.
This section includes topics such as using our gifts together with other
Christian (Romans 12:6-8), sharing with those in need (Romans 12:13), not
seeking revenge (Romans 12:19), obeying the government (Romans 13:1), not doing
anything which would cause another believer to stumble (Romans 14:20), and much
more.

Is there any overarching theme and unifying principle
which ties together all the different topics in the last five chapters of
Romans?Yes!

NIV Romans 13:9 The commandments, "You shall
not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall
not steal," "You shall not covet," and whatever other command
there may be, are summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as
yourself."

God’s
Mission is a Response to His Love

Great Commission thinking saturates the book of
Romans.Passages emphasizing the
importance of spreading the good news about Jesus to others are found at the
beginning, in the middle, and at the end of Romans.

At the beginning of Romans we find these mission themed
verses:

NIV Romans 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus
Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.

NIV Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes:
first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

In the middle of Romans we find the logic which compels
missions:

NIV Romans 10:13 "Everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved."

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have
not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not
heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

15 And how can
anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are
the feet of those who bring good news!"

Finally, at the end of Romans, we see Paul’s own
missionary heart and zeal revealed:

NIV Romans 15:20 It has always been my ambition to
preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building
on someone else's foundation.

Paul longed for everyone else to receive the great love
of God which had saved him.He wanted
everyone to learn to obey God’s beautiful commands which are all based on His unstoppable
love. Therefore, Paul was driven to go everywhere he could and give all that he
had to spread this love.

I pray that you, too, will know God’s love.May your life will be transformed by it. I ask that He will work through you to spread
His love to others near and far. Amen.

note: below you will find a list of all the verses in Romans with the word "love"

Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .

Here are all the versesin Romans with the word “love” in it.This is based on a search of the old NIV.A search of other translations, or searching
for the agape word group in Greek,
will yield very similar, but not identical, results:

Romans 1:7 To all in Rome who are loved by God
and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from
the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
whom he has given us.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us
in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God
works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according
to his purpose.

note:Romans 8:28 is the one “exception” to that rule that in Romans 1-11 the
word “love” always refers to God’s love for us.Of course, even in this verse, it is obvious that God’s love for us is
very much in view.

Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness
or danger or sword?

Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Romans 8:39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God that
is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 9:13 Just as it is written: "Jacob I
loved, but Esau I hated."

Romans 9:25 As he says in Hosea: "I will call them 'my people' who are
not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who
is not my loved one,"

Romans 11:28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your
account; but as far as election is concerned, they are
loved on account of the patriarchs,

**** Here we shift from a focus on
God’s love for us to a focus on loving one another ****

Romans 12:9 Love must be sincere. Hate what
is evil; cling to what is good.

Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly
love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Romans 13:8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has
fulfilled the law.

Romans 13:9 The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do
not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and
whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Romans 14:15 If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your
eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died.

Romans 15:30 I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle
by praying to God for me.